2050: Remembering When the Super Bowl (not the MLS Cup) was the Biggest Event in Sport

Can you remember back to a time when Major League Soccer was but a small hill amongst the mountains of the world soccer landscape, or when many referred to MLS as a retirement league? What about the early days of world power Orlando City, a time when making the MLS playoffs wasn’t even a certainty?

To those under the age of 50 this may be unimaginable, Orlando City (holder of 7 MLS titles) struggling to make the playoffs? Impossible, right?

What may seem even more unlikely is that MLS was never at the forefront of American sports in those days, and certainly not a player in the world sporting landscape. Yes, the MLS Cup is now one of America’s (and the world’s) most celebrated events, which continues to grow each year — yet this wasn’t always the case. No, forty some odd years ago (before the steroid scandals and head injury lawsuits) the NFL ruled the American sport market, and the Super Bowl was the single biggest sporting event in the world, by a large margin.

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In 2014, the Super Bowl had the world’s attention, not the MLS cup.[/caption]

Much has changed. (Other than NYCFC changing coaches every year.)

While American football is certainly still popular in it’s own right, one would be foolish to compare it’s appeal to that of current MLS. MLS Cup ratings have soared over the last 20 years, last year nearly doubling those of the NFL’s Super Bowl. In fact, AmazonTV just recently paid 3 Billion for the rights to Sunday night MLS games. Yes, MLS has come a long way over the years. As we near the start of the 2050 MLS season, let us remember the humble beginnings of Major League Soccer and it’s most well known club, Orlando City SC.

These days we all know Orlando City as a world soccer (football) superpower, a perennial favorite in the World Champions League, and the single most decorated club in MLS history. But stop for a moment and consider, that at one point, the club that owns 7 league titles, claims the winningest coach in league history and is home to several of the world’s biggest stars was just an expansion franchise trying to find it’s way in a “secondary” league. It’s pretty hard to imagine, but in the year 2015 this was the reality.

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Now a well known executive, Kaká was one of Orlando City’s first MLS players.[/caption]

Yes, you surely know that Ricky Kaká, now still part of the club’s ownership group, finished up his playing career in Orlando. But at the time he was among only a handful of world known players in MLS. He was on the downside of a brilliant career and the “retirement league” moniker of MLS had yet to recede behind the massive stadiums and billion dollar contracts that have become common place. These were the days of Major League Soccer being run as a single entity, a single limited liability company that owned all of the clubs within it’s structure. This was before the days of the current promotion and relegation system that which we are familiar, back when MLS was still struggling to turn a profit and turn attention away from the other behemoth leagues in the United States.

MLS and Orlando City have come a long way from those humble and obscure beginnings. In 2015 (Orlando City’s first in MLS) the league had a total of 20 teams. Now with 32 teams, a promotion and relegation system in place, and club valuations that have reached into the billions, there is no doubt that MLS is at the top of the list in the Worldwide market. This fact cemented by further expansion being considered for which the Miami ownership group seems to be in line, contingent upon Cruz David Beckham being able to complete his father’s 50 year quest to find suitable land for a stadium. Surely Orlando City fans will remember fondly when Columbus was relegated for good in 2026 and now toils in the 4th tier of the US soccer pyramid.

It may be a distant memory, but MLS was a haven of absurd rules and regulations in those days. Do you remember terms like Targeted Allocation Dollars, Discovery Claims, Designated Players or Homegrown Talents? If they sound made up, it’s because they mostly were. But Commissioner Larry Hoffman has continued the progress made since the ousting of Don Garber back in 2023. Orlando City founder Phil Rawlins was at the forefront of this change movement. After a 7th tampering charge against the club, the league mostly gave up and allowed a transition group headed by Rawlins to facilitate the contraction of Soccer United Marketing and the single entity structure of MLS, this change has allowed the league to flourish. Clubs such as Orlando City have been able to spend cash freely to bring in and develop the best talent in the world and Rawlins has gone on to be be enshired in the Pro Soccer Hall of Fame for his efforts.

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Don Garbers’ reign as MLS chief came to an end in 2023, ushering in a new era of prosperity.[/caption]

How far has the league been able to flourish?

Look no further than the $175 million dollar transfer of Mario Lucia Perez to Orlando City from FC Barcelona just one year ago. In 2015, this would have been unheard of — a 23 year old world class forward heading to America after winning the Ballon d’Or. No, in those days, players like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba and Andrea Pirlo came to America to finish off their illustrious, but fading, careers in their thirties. Much has changed as MLS, we now know, is the destination league of choice for the World’s best players. The league with the most money, the biggest stage and most prestige.

Back to Orlando City.

The club (that last season ran away with their 7th overall (3rd in a row) title with a 5–2 victory over Sacramento Republic FC) begins their pre-season schedule at home against the recently promoted yo-yo club, Tampa Bay Rowdies, a bitter rival just 20 minutes away via the I-4 Bullet Train. Head Coach Harrison Heath, now with his 3rd MLS title is only one away from matching that of his father, Adrian, who began the transition of Orlando City into the world’s elite. But isn’t it funny that all those years ago, back in 2016 the NFL’s Super Bowl completely overshadowed the beginning of the MLS season.

It seems silly to think about but that was the reality all those years ago. So whether you are one of the 55,000 in attendance at the recently renovated SunTrust Park in downtown Orlando, or watching at home on your Netflix Media Console when the Lions take to the pitch, enjoy the game. But don’t forget it wasn’t always this way. In years past the only visual programming this week would have centered around American Football and its Super Bowl championship game. Those (few) MLS fans before you watched shaky YouTube streams of their clubs MLS pre-season games.

While the Super Bowl is still (somewhat) popular, theres no question it isn’t the main attraction in town. While Los Angeles may have 4 NFL teams these days, its the Galaxy and LAFC who command the city’s attention.

Soccer fans, you have it good in 2050, don’t take it for granted.